"We drove the troggs out of Gnomeregan, but then it all went so horribly wrong!Now our home is completely irradiated, and we gnomes have been scattered all over Dun Morogh..."
- Felix Whindlebolt, gnome, at Anvilmar[1]

The troggs are the variation of humanoid created by the Curse of Flesh from the first type of Earthen created by the Titans. They retain the strength of the Earthen, but vastly reduced cognitive abilities.

Contents

Background

The creature is a grotesque parody of a dwarf, with oversized head, bent spine, arms that drag along the ground, and a mouth filled with ragged, oversized teeth. It wears rough, smelly hides and carries a crude club covered with spatters of blood. The creature is barrel-chested and powerfully-built, with a thick forehead and jutting lower jaw. Malicious cunning is apparent in its deep-set eyes.MoM 98MG 135

Troggs have a distinctly neanderthal look — low, sloping forehead; thick skin covered with bristly black hairs; and the long arms and bent spines of an ape.MG 135 Troggs are a barbaric, almost "caveman-like" race with very low intelligence but a great capacity for violence of all kinds. They were the titans’ first attempt to create life from living stone, but the experiment was a failure. Dwarven scholars postulate that the experiment went wrong due to the interference of the Old GodsMoM 98. (The successful second attempt gave rise to the dwarven race.) When the titans saw how brutal and misshapen the troggs were, they buried them in vaults all over the land that would become Khaz Modan. The main vault of troggs was the old Titan city of Uldaman in Khaz Modan. There they stayed for countless ages, until the dwarves began excavating Uldaman. The dwarves dug too deep and released the troggs from their ages-long slumber. Now the troggs have begun to spill out of every deep hole to spread terror across the dwarven kingdom. The troggs have an unnatural hatred of their “pretty” cousins the dwarves. They may be dumb, but they are hell-bent on taking out their aggressions on the dwarves.MoM 98

They are dull-witted and savage, but possess a ferocious cunning that makes them dangerous despite their lack of civilization. Troggs are related to dwarves, but if anything, the two races are distant cousins. Some legends say that both dwarves and troggs descended from the original earthen race left behind by the titans after the world was shaped in ages past. While the dwarves evolved into the stocky creatures known today, the troggs retained a stronger connection to the stone from which they were made. For reasons not yet fully understood, the troggs’ evolutionary path led them to their present state — crude, stupid creatures only barely above the level of beasts. Troggs look and act nothing like their distant cousins, however. They dwell in rocky areas, but don’t mind living above ground if they must. They eat just about anything, supplementing their diet of plants and raw meat with dirt and rocks they crush between powerful, flat teeth. The resulting gravel helps with digestion and is partially absorbed into their bodies, increasing their toughness. Troggs stand about 5 feet tall in their normal hunched-over state, but if they draw themselves fully erect, they exceed 6 feet in height. They weigh around 300 pounds. Troggs do not speak, but can make themselves understood with guttural growls and grunts.MG 135, 136

Troggs are brutal and cunning in battle (indeed, that is their approach to most things in life). Their flesh is living stone, offering them a useful natural armor. MoM 98 Troggs lack subtlety in combat (or in anything else, or that matter). They typically rush toward the closest opponent and bash it over the head until it dies, then move on to the next victim. A trogg usually begins combat by raging.MG 136

Troggs are usually barbarians. Warriors and rogues are less common, with healers and elemental shaman being the only known spellcasting classes (though even they are exceedingly rare). Arcane casters are wholly unknown among the troggs, as are tinkers. Some scholars argue that with proper education a trogg could learn such skills, but so far no one has bothered to try teaching them. While hunter might seem to be a logical class for a trogg, that class is rare among them — apparently these creatures lack the patience required for animal handling. Although an adventuring trogg is not an impossibility, such a creature would have many hurdles to overcome — the primary ones being stupidity and language. Troggs are almost universally brutish, primitive menaces in civilized lands. They are ugly, smelly, barbaric savages that most would sooner kill than look upon. A trogg that could get past these social stigmas would be an exceptional individual indeed.MG 136

Troggs are stupid. Very stupid. There are not very many trogg casters, only some shamans in Ragefire Chasm and in Halls of Stone. They are usually easy to defeat. While they travel in large groups, they rarely seem to stay close enough together that attacking one will alert the others.

Culture

Troggs worship the massive reptiles known as salamanders. Troggs will attempt to capture and train young salamanders as mounts. If these primitive humanoids slay or encounter a slain salamander, they will feast on its remains and make crude armor and weapons from its claws, teeth, and hide.MoM 89

Language

Troggs do not normally speak, although they can use grunts and bellows to get their messages across. Troggs with exceptional intelligence sometimes learn to speak Low Common; truly gifted individuals might learn Common or Dwarven.MG 136 Some troggs use Low Common or Dwarven as their primary languages.MoM 98

Others

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Aside from the well known documentation (which could, potentially, have been warped or falsified by some unknown) in the depths of Uldaman, there is, in fact, a witnessed transformation from dwarf to trogg. Several members of the Horde assisted a dwarf known as Feegly the Exiled in acquiring a relic of the titans, excavated from the archaeological dig in Bael Modan, in the southern reaches of the Barrens. Upon receiving the item of his desire, Feegly proceeded to rub the artifact, named by the dwarves to be Tear of the Moons. Chanting "Power! Glorious power!", Feegly was transformed into one of the fearsome troggs. He died moments later, and the Tear of the Moon fell to the ground and shattered, leaving no trace of the mysterious jewel to be studied.